1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to managing computer peripheral devices and specifically to monitoring computer peripheral device usage for power management.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computers may use many different peripheral devices including, but not limited to, keyboards, computer mouses, monitors, touchscreens, microphones, speakers, cameras, joysticks, and light pens. Many peripheral devices consume power while operating. For example, peripheral devices such as computer mouses and keyboards may send signals to a computer system through radio frequency (RF) signals. In addition, peripheral devices such as touchscreens (e.g., capacitance touchscreens and resistance touchscreens), may continuously use power to detect touch on the touchscreen surface.
To manage peripheral device power usage, the peripheral device may be put into a lower power state by a user to conserve power. However, to effectively conserve power, the user may need to remember power down the peripheral device each time the user is not using the peripheral device, and power up the peripheral device when the user resumes using the peripheral device. Manually turning the peripheral device on and off may be tedious and time consuming. A computer system may be programmed to automatically turn the peripheral device on and off by using a timer. The computer system may turn the peripheral device off if the computer system has not detected any signals from the peripheral device in a predetermined amount of time. However, power may be wasted while the peripheral device remains powered up but unused during the predetermined amount of time. Therefore, improved power management methods are desired.